I am extremely disappointed in my last visit to the Disneyland Resort. I went to the resort for 3 days: October 15th, 16th, and 17th. I stayed at Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel and shelled out over $600 for the room, and several hundred dollars more for food, fees, etc.
While the room wasn't bad and I knew about the current closures as mentioned on Disneyland.com (Big Thunder, Space Mtn, Splash, etc.), what was remaining was constantly having problems. During one of the days Pirates and Mansion were both down for most of the day. Star Tours had one cabin running, which broke down while I was in line. With a fastpass it took me 45 mins. To get on.
The park was as crowded as a summer day, if not more due to fall break at many schools and yet hours were not increased. (The park closed at 8 pm) The other rides were very poorly maintained. On Pirates our boat was filled with water up to our ankles in the back row due to a leak, which caused the boat to tilt and sink in places. At the bottom of the second drop I had to jump on my grandmother to avoid hitting my head on a rock because of the way the boat tilted. We had to be walked out of Roger Rabbit when it malfunctioned. We were stuck on Winnie the Pooh several minutes. Same story with Indiana Jones.in addition to getting stuck on Indiana Jones, the ride would malfunction in places and the music would stop and the car would stop.
Many dark rides in Fantasyland were in such bad shape characters and effects that used to move were just still. Snow White even stopped once leaving us stranded for a few minutes. What was almost comical was how they staffed a CM outside of Big Thunder and Splash to reassure guests the rides were still safe. They would get tongue-tied when asked why so many rides not in rehab were breaking down. I watched how one of them handled 3 of the families. DCA was no better than Disneyland as every ride had a 1 hour wait and it was only open until 6 pm.
I went to complain at City Hall. Many were screaming at City Hall CMs asking for a refund, which some got. Annual passholders settled for comp. Fastpasses. I then spoke with a guest communications representative on the phone who was very rude and said she could do nothing to make up for my experiences. Her logic was I spent money on the room and not the park since I was an annual passholder. If this is the way they treat their annual passholders I will more than likely not renew mine this year. I will also more than likely cancel my room at the Grand Californian in December (was booked a couple months before this incident) since even open rides only run part time anyway.
Understand this much: I DID NOT BOOK THAT ROOM FOR MY HEALTH, I COUNTED ON BEING CLOSE TO THE RESORT TO RIDE RIDES AND EXPERIENCE DISNEYLAND. They rent rooms at a high price because they are on Disneyland property and close to the attractions they claim to offer. I would not have paid $207 per night for a room that is just as nice as a $30 Motel 6 room just down the freeway if I didn't want to be at Disneyland to experience these attractions. Ironically, one cast member told me at City Hall We have 80 attractions at our resort, we aren't concerned because just a handful breakdown. It's sad that is now Disneyland's attitude at providing a guest experience.
I am also very disappointed that Disneyland's Tomorrowland area now has very few attractions. At one time this land had more to do than anywhere in the park. If rides like Submarine Voyage, Rocket Rods/Circlevision, etc. Were not removed they would not have these complaints when rides break down.
Maintenance is even visibly bad at the park. The injuries at Columbia (cleat gave a man a fatal blow on the head), Big Thunder (train derailed and crushed a man to death), and Space Mountain (one train derailed, a few months later another crashed into another train) should have spoken volumes at what happens when maintenance is allowed to go, and disasters like these will be commonplace if it is not stepped up soon.
In short, I paid $1,000 (and I'm NOT rich) for nothing but 3 days of getting angry, getting shouted at by angry cast members dealing with people, and listening to other Disneyland guests say they will never come back. I heard many people say this while eating lunch at the Village Haus restaurant in Fantasyland. I do hope they will compensate us somehow and I am not at all embarrassed by requesting this.
These jerks took $1,000 of our money and ran with it! AND I should be compensated a lot more than just fastpasses for their broken rides! Also, if I experience the same thing during my next trip (broken rides, excessive unadvertised closures, malfunctions, disproportionate hours, rude cast members, etc.) then I will not renew my annual pass, and it expires the 12th of December. Their cast members treat people like trash when they find out they're annual passholders, but remember, we spend money too, sometimes even more than regular guests!
Also, you may find documented evidence of the maintenance problems at the resort at http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-disney9nov09,1, 7777359. Story? Coll=la-headlines-pe-california. Disneyland's own employees blow the lid on how bad the resort is getting in this article. Whoever is reading this, please do your part to keep Disneyland safe for everyone.
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